StoryCorps: Patricia Chin, from Chinatown to a chorus line

Patricia Chin was born in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She had never left the neighborhood when she auditioned to be a chorus girl. It was quite a leap for a young Asian-American girl, born in 1935, but Chin loved the adventure, and saw it as a way to bring home extra money. Her group, the Chinese Vanities, performed in nightclubs up and down the West Coast.

Patricia Chin sat down in San Francisco’s StoryCorps booth at the Contemporary Jewish Museum with her granddaughter Christina Chin and shared her tale of a glamorous life that came from humble beginnings.

From the 1940s until the 1960s, San Francisco’s Chinatown was home to a thriving Chinese American nightclub scene. The clubs had names like Forbidden City, the Chinese Skyroom, and the Shanghai Low. They had showgirls, ballroom duos, comedians, jazz singers, and magic acts -- all featuring Asian-American entertainers. These clubs had wide appeal: celebrities like Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, and Lauren Bacall were all spotted over the years, along with tourists, businessmen and locals. The...